Work Text:
Tell your friends you're out for a run
You'll be flushed when you return
“We really should stop doing this.” Stiles states as he retrieves his flannel from the floor of his room.
“Oh, really?” Derek’s smirk is noticeable even without looking, which, in Stiles’ opinion, could be considered a talent. “You think we should stop?”
The younger man makes the mistake to turn to look around, finding a shirtless Derek staring back at him with an arched eyebrow. He has to force himself to stay where he is instead of running towards the man and jumping on him, but Derek’s dishevelled hair, his smile and his comfortable unwarded expression are not helping him whatsoever. And the muscles. The muscles are not helping him either.
“Oh, shut up.” Stiles rolls his eyes and makes Derek laugh with the gesture, which clearly rubbed off on him after so many years being close with the werewolf. He gestures between the two of them as he speaks. “Not this . Just the hiding part.”
Derek walks towards Stiles, placing his hands on the younger man’s waist. “I thought you wanted to wait to tell them until summer, when the first semester was over.”
“Yeah, and I do, and I know that you want me to focus on the final exams and papers and everything but…” Stiles sighs and places his hands over Derek’s. “I also want to make plans with my boyfriend out of this room, or without you having to sneak every weekend to visit me in college.”
“So, you want to tell them?”
Stiles shrugs as he keeps his eyes focused on Derek’s. “I think so, you wouldn’t mind?”
“Stiles, I can’t wait for everybody to know that we are together, you know it, I just…”
“Yeah, I know.” Stiles gives him a fond smile, and Derek leans closer to rest their foreheads together. They have talked about this plenty of times since they started kind of dating half a year ago, and they both agreed to wait until Stiles was back from college to tell the rest of the pack, together. But hiding is getting more and more difficult these days, both of them struggling to avoid the gentle touches and affection displays whenever the group of friends make plans together.
“Would you tell your father, then?” Derek’s voice breaks the silence, startling Stiles to the point that he takes a step back.
“You know what? Nevermind. We are perfectly fine as we are right now.” He says, his voice raising a little as he speaks. It’s not that he’s afraid of Noah’s reaction at all, it’s more that the thought of sitting down with his father to tell him that he’s dating Derek… It’s not the most comfortable situation. And he knows his father is going to mess with him by reminding him of every single weird situation they lived together. Like, you know, when Stiles accused him of murder, for example. Yeah, no, not the ideal way to end his weekend back home before college.
Derek laughs at his expression and steps back too, smirking when he looks at Stiles again. “Just for the record, I don’t complain about the plans we make inside this room, you know.”
Derek’s tone is playful and makes Stiles giggle while he looks for something on the floor of the bedroom.
“You big idiot, I’m not complaining about it either.” Stiles stands again, and he throws the werewolf his t-shirt. “Actually, if you want to leave this room on time I need you to get dressed, otherwise there’s a high possibility of me forcing you to stay.”
“Eager much for another round, aren’t you?” Derek asks, and he can’t help the way his eyes flash red for a second right before he puts on the t-shirt that has been thrown his way.
“Well, I like to seize the time when I’m not away, you know.”
Derek walks towards Stiles, now completely dressed, and the younger’s hands find their way to the older’s waist this time, keeping him close. “You say it as if I don’t go visit you every single weekend.”
“I honestly don’t know how nobody has realised that you are gone three days every week, no other alpha has so many social compromises, and you are not the biggest social butterfly.”
“Hey, watch out, I’m perfectly good with social interactions.”
Stiles giggles again, enjoying Derek’s playful voice, and stands on his tiptoes to give him a quick peck. “Come on, you are going to be late to your own house.”
Derek nods and gives him another quick peck, smiling when he steps back towards the window. “See you at the meeting, baby.”
Stiles stares as Derek leaves his bedroom by jumping from the window and sighs, a happy smile on his face. He is not sure how the tentative friendship Derek and he managed to form the last couple of years turned into daily texting and calls and then, a couple of months after, into a first date that quickly led to a first kiss and a first night together. And that kept going until now, half a year later. He has absolutely no clue of how any of this happened, but he’s definitely not complaining.
He finishes getting ready and leaves the house, picking the keys of the Jeep on his way out.
Barely ten minutes later, Stiles opens the door of Derek’s apartment. “Hello you weird creatures, your favourite token human friend is back.”
As Scotts runs to hug him, excited for seeing his best friend after two months without doing so, Stiles catches a glimpse of Derek’s smile and feels his own smile forming. God, he is so in love with that man it’s ridiculous that anybody else hasn’t noticed.
“Scotty, buddy, how are you man!”
Stiles greets every single werewolf and human in the room, The greetings change depending on the person; sometimes it’s a hug (like with Erica), others it’s a pat on the shoulder (Isaac) and others a simple gesture of their heads (Boyd). He fights incredibly hard to keep his smile hidden as he greets Derek, too, as if they weren’t together a bunch of minutes ago, and he prays to all the unknown good supernatural creatures and gods for the rest of the pack to miss the jump his heart does in his chest as soon as he sees Derek’s smirk.
Today’s meeting is a movie night, and soon enough all of them are plopped down the sofa, armchairs and beanbags spread through the living room in front of the screen. And that’s when the war begins, because there’s no way they can agree on which movie they are watching without fighting about it for, at least, half an hour.
When Lydia insists on watching The Notebook for the tenth time (and Derek suspects she only keeps suggesting the movie because she enjoys all the complaining, and that’s exactly why he, sometimes, pretends to agree with her, much to the rest of the pack’s distress), it’s Stiles’ cue to defend his case.
“Excuse me, but if we don’t watch Luca I’ll let you know you are all being blatantly homophobic.”
The rest of the pack laughs at his argument, thinking he’s making a joke, and takes them a couple of seconds to understand that there’s nothing but determination in his expression.
“How can not wanting to see it means we are homophobic?” Isaac asks, confusion clear in his voice.
“Oh, so you are not joking?” Scott says, clearing his throat after the laughs.
“About you being homophobic? Well, yes, of course. About the relevance of this movie for the LGBT community? Not in the slightest.”
“Aren’t cartoon movies basically for kids?” Jackson is the next one to speak, and the mockery as he does it earns him a hit in the arm from Lydia.
“I’m not even going to dignify that clear proof of ignorance by explaining to you how wrong you are. Movies for kids, I swear to god…” Stiles clicks his tongue and shakes his head before speaking again. “The movie is a metaphor.”
And with that, he starts a ten minute rant about how Luca is an allegory about LGBTQ love and the struggles people from the community still face in certain groups and societies.
When he concludes, feeling Derek’s gaze in him, he claps his hands and looks around the room with a smirk on his face. “So, what will it be, guys? Homophobia or allyship?”
They choose to watch Luca unanimously, even with Jackson’s agreement. If they do it because Stiles convinced them with his speech or just so he shuts up and leaves them alone it’s something that he’s not going to think about. Ignorance is bliss, isn’t it?
He’s about to settle down again in his favourite beanbag, strategically placed right next to Derek’s favourite armchair, when he feels a hand on his shoulder. When he turns around, he’s faced with grey and green eyes that flash red for a second.
“Help me bring things from the kitchen.”
It’s not a question, but Stiles still nods before following Derek out of the living room.
As soon as the popcorn bag is inside the microwave, Stiles finds himself being cornered against the counter, Derek’s nose buried in his neck.
“Easy there, big boy.” Stiles chuckles, one of his hands travelling up to caress Derek’s nape. “What’s this for?”
“You look so hot when you start ranting about something.” He mutters, his lips tracing Stiles’ neck and his breath giving the younger man goosebumps.
“Didn’t know you were so interested in rewatching Luca.” Stiles closes his eyes as he speaks, and hates how breathless he sounds. But he really really struggles with focus when Derek is that close, torturing him with soft kisses along the exposed skin on his neck. His words are replied with a low growl coming from Derek, and Stiles has never been more grateful for the strong hands holding him by the hips as he is right now. “Derek, they are…”
He’s interrupted by the noise of the microwave announcing that the popcorn is ready and it takes Derek half a second to break from Stiles, who can’t help but glaring at him. The shaky breath that escapes his lips kind of messes the effect of the glare, but he’s doing his best. “You tease.”
Derek just smirks, winking at Stiles before leaving the kitchen.
When the younger man goes back from the kitchen after relaxing a bit, barely a minute later, all eyes are on him and he frowns. “What?”
“You are… Red.” Scott says with a confused expression. “And your heart is beating super fast, dude.”
Stiles huffs and ignores the comment, walking towards the table to put some coke cans there.
“Actually, you were also a bit flushed when you first arrived.”
“I… Huh?” He replies, very eloquently.
“Yeah, and your hair was a mess too.”
Stiles ignores Derek’s snort, because what an asshole and damn werewolves who recover way faster than humans . He tries to play it cool, and replies the first thing that crosses his mind. “I went out for a run.”
His words are met with silence and pack members looking at each other until Scotts speaks again. “You… Went for a run?”
He sees Derek’s suddenly amused expression, barely hidden behind the can he’s drinking from, and willingly chooses to ignore it too and keep his very cool attitude. “Yes, man. Keep that surprised tone for yourself, would you? Humans can run, you know.”
“It’s not a matter of humans, but you going for a run.” Jackson mutters, loud enough for Stiles to hear.
“ You went for a run.” Scott insists, and arches an eyebrow when Stiles nods. “Wearing jeans and a flannel.”
Stiles can feel his cheeks redden even more, but simply shrugs. “I… Yeah, it was a rushed decision. I… Came here running. Yeah.”
Silence fills the room again, and Stiles feels his heartbeat raise when he sees Erica’s expression. He knows her well enough to know she’s planning something, and her next words confirm it. “You know, Derek was also a bit flushed when he arrived. Apparently he went for a run before the meeting too. Maybe you should, I don’t know, go for a run together the next time.”
Stiles’ eyes widen comically and looks at Derek, who is better than him at keeping the façade. When he speaks, there’s a smirk on his face and he’s looking at Stiles, even though his words are aimed at Erica. “I don’t think Stiles can keep up with my running.”
“Oh, you think so?” Stiles replies with a smile, panic forgotten in favour of the playful banter. The kind of banter they have admitted that turns them on a little bit more than it’s probably normal, but, oh, well, when have they been normal anyway.
“You know, werewolf estamina.” Derek says, and he has the audacity of winking.
Later on, Stiles will swear it was the wink that made him forget where they were before speaking. “You weren’t complaining about my human stamina half an hour ago, big boy.”
It takes him a second to process what he has just said, and as soon as he does, his eyes still locked with Derek’s, he mutters a “fuck”.
"Huh." Lydia asks.
"Huh?" Isaac repeats.
And, since the third time's the charm, Scott joins the list. " Huh?"
Stiles looks at them, mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water, and finally settles for a very coherent response. "Huh what?"
“Why would Derek complain about your human stamina?” Scott, bless him and his denseness, asks.
“Uhm… You know, training?”
“Half an hour ago?” Lydia adds, and when Stiles looks at her she has a knowing smile on her face. Oh, they are so screwed.
“There was a training session before the meeting?”
“Oh for fucks sake, Scott.” This time is Erica who speaks, pointing at Derek and Stiles with her hand. “ Use your nose .”
And so the werewolf does, frowning when he comes closer to the aforementioned men to sniff around them with his nose scrunching funnily.
Under Stiles’ attentive gaze, realisation hits Scott to the point that he takes a step back. “Oh my god. Oh my god .”
Stiles is about to panic, because this is not even close to how they wanted the pack to find out, how they wanted to tell them, However, he feels a hand on his wrist, and as soon as he looks at his side Derek is giving him a comforting smile that Stiles easily returns, nodding slightly as they entwine their fingers since they don’t have to hide anymore.
Lydia is the one who calls them back to reality by clearing her throat before speaking. “So… When did this happen?”
“Erm… Eight months ago?”
“ Eight months ago .” Scott repeats, eyes widening in surprise.
“Well, yes, but like, we just…”
“I called him.” Derek cuts him, a fond smile on his lips as he looks at Stiles and remembers how all of this, all of them started. “I needed his help with something, as usual, and I called him to ask. It was during his first month away for college. We kept talking for hours and I… I went to visit him that very same weekend.”
When Derek just shrugs as an answer, Stiles looks back at Scott. “The whole relationship thing started a bit later, though. We just… We went on a lot of dates before being, like, officially together.”
“Officially together, huh?” Scott is now smiling, and shakes his head slightly. “Don’t get me wrong, I am very happy for you. For the two of you. I’m just surprised.”
“How can you?” Erica inquires, smirking a bit. “Derek goes to see him every single weekend.”
“And they barely keep their eyes from each other whenever they are in the same room.” Lydia adds.
“Or their hands.” Boyd, always so helpful, supplies.
Derek and Stiles look at their pack in absolute awe, and it’s the younger who breaks the silence. “You knew?”
“Of course we did, who do you think we are?” Erica’s tone fakes indignation, but the smile on her lips betrays her. “You kept the secret better than expected, though. At first we thought you wouldn’t be able to avoid spilling the beans during Christmas break.”
“Which reminds me.” Isaac jumps from the sofa, smiling widely. “Boyd, you owe me fifty dollars.”
“No. I definitely do not.”
“You thought they were going to make it until the end of the school year, so I won.”
“Yes, but I also said Stiles was going to be the one saying it, so…”
Derek and Stiles look at the betas and then at each other before they start laughing. Feeling free to openly touch each other Derek’s arm circles Stiles’ waist and the younger rests his head on the other’s chest while returning the hug.
As the betas keep fighting over who owes money to who, Stiles shakes his head slightly. “I can’t believe they had running bets on us.”
“Really?” Derek says, clearly amused by the whole situation. “I wouldn’t expect anything else coming from them.”
“... You know what, you are right, it makes complete sense.”
“Hey.” Jackson says, raising his tone to be heard over the discussion. “What about watching the movie, huh?”
Stiles is about to mess with him, calling him out on his eagerness to watch the cartoon movie for children, but he feels Derek’s embrace tighten around him as he sits in his armchair, dragging Stiles to sit in his lap.
While he accommodates himself over the werewolf and receives a quick peck in the lips, he decides that not having a filter has its advantages if it led him to this situation.
Needless to say, by the time the movie ends all of them are extremely moved by it, and Stiles catches a glimpse of Jackson cleaning his tears as soon as the lights are on again.
Once all the pack members have left the apartment and only Stiles and Derek are left there, the werewolf circles the human’s waist with his arms.
“So… I was thinking…” Stiles smiles and nods, encouraging Derek to keep talking. “Since we don’t have to hide anymore and it doesn’t matter if my house smells like you now that they know we are together, why don’t you spend the night here?”
Stiles’ response comes in the form of a kiss, and when they part with matching smiles on their lips the younger man is still holding Derek’s face between his hands, caressing his cheek with his thumb. “I’d like it a lot, in case it wasn’t, you know, abundantly clear.”
“Yeah, it kind of was.” Derek teases, stepping back just in time to avoid the hit Stiles tries to give him. “Let’s go, then.”
Stiles grabs his hand, a mischievous smile on his face. “Come on, big guy, apparently I need to prove to you how good my human stamina is.”
Derek doesn’t need to be told twice, and with a grunt he picks up Stiles to carry him to the bedroom, not really willing to wait a second more than necessary.
A couple of hours later that same night, when they are in Derek’s bed curled around each other, the werewolf caresses Stiles’ body, running over it with the tips of his fingers and creating goosebumps in the younger’s skin.
Stiles is about to fall asleep, or at least Derek thinks so, when he turns his face a bit to drop a kiss on the werewolf’s shoulder.
“I thought you were asleep.”
“Almost, but I can hear your brain thinking.” Stiles smiles and stretches a little, facing his boyfriend. “What’s going on, Der.”
It takes him a couple of seconds to reply, and when he does his voice is barely a whisper. “I don’t want to ruin this. I don’t want to ruin you .”
“We have been through this, Der, you are most definitely not going to.” The younger states, not a trace of doubt in his voice. He looks so determined and sure that it almost makes Derek believe it completely. Almost.
“Everything… Everyone that I love always ends up being hurt.”
“Even if that was true, which is not, haven’t you heard that there’s an exception to every rule?” Stiles gently places his hand on the other man’s jaw, forcing him to look at him. It pains him a little, seeing Derek so open and vulnerable and worried, and he would do absolutely everything to keep that expression away from his face. “You thought the same when we became friends. And after the first date. And after the first kiss. And the first night we spent together. And the first time I told you I loved you. And we, together, proved you how wrong you were every single time. This, us , is not something that can be messed up. We are the exception to that silly rule of yours, okay?”
Derek ends up smiling, and drops a kiss over Stiles’ nose before nodding. “Okay.”
“Great, now come here.”
Stiles goes back to their previous position, accommodating himself against Derek’s chest. “I think I’d let you ruin me a million little times if that means I get this every night.”
Derek huffs and shakes his head at the same time that he tightens the grip he has around Stiles’ waist. “You are stupid.”
“Yes, but you still love me.”
“Yeah.” Derek smiles, and Stiles can feel it against the skin of his nape, causing a shiver to go down his spine. After placing a soft kiss right there Derek closes his eyes, unable to keep the smile from his lips. “Yeah, I definitely do.”